Cytotec vs. Cervadil....??? help!!

I'm getting induced Sunday night due to being on bedrest for almost two months (high blood pressures)

anyhoo my OB informed me she will be using cytotec first on sunday night and then begin pitocin the next day...

My concern is I've heard bad things about cytotec..is cervadil any safer? Any Mommies out there been induced with cytotec

sorry if I am spelling it wrong, I searched the april 2010 board for cytotec and the post really scared me, some women were talking about how it is used for abortions and can cause the uterus to rupture!!!???

When I was induced w/ my first baby, the resident was going to put in cytotec. I told him I would not agree to it, and he used cervidil instead. He kind of rolled his eyes at my choice, but did admit that it was in fact MY choice.

I did not feel the cervidil tablet at all. It did not do much for me- not really many contrax, but I suppose it started to ripen my cervix.

In the 90s Congress called upon pracitioners to explain the use of cytotec as in induction drug since it's not designed for that purpose and because of all of the uterine ruptures associated with its use.

It has still not been approved by the FDA for induction.

I would absolutely refuse this drug there are too many issues that put you/baby at risk!

--

Janette

Happily Married 9 years : I have 2 Beautiful daughters ,

1- 20 year old , 1- 5year old , and 1 more beautiful princess due 4-19-10

Cytotec is not only not approved (but drugs are often used off-label), it actually has a black-box warning against giving it to pregnant women, and the FDA and the manufacturer both do not approve of its use in pregnancy.

My first child was an induction by cervadil. It wasn't pleasant (inductions often aren't), but it was by a safe, approved method with far less risk of uterine hyperstimulation, pulmonary embolism, etc.

I guess I'm in the minority here, but I had a succesful induction with cytotec.

They started with that since my cervix was hard and closed. I went in around noon and they put a pill inside me. I had to be on the monitor for an hour, then walk around or just hang out for 2hr. They gave me one pill every 3hrs. I got 5 doses (the max they will give). My contractions started around 3 or 4am. I labored for a while before getting an epidural at 8am. Then I took a nap. My son was born at 12:40pm. Total labor was about 9hrs.

Okay I am not reading the other posts because I don't have time, but I was induced with Cytotec. I had no problems. The OB placed it the night before I had my daughter. Overnight it worked and I had my daughter the next morning. I never was given pitocin. Whatever you and your doctor choose I hope you have a wonderful exp and best of luck to you and baby!

My husband is a clinical pharmacist. This is what he says.

While it is true that misoprostol (Cytotec) is not FDA approved for cervical ripening, it is a recognized unlabeled/investigational use. This happens with medications all the time. At the hospital I work at, a 250-bed facility in Northern Colorado, we use misoprostol in favor of dinoprostone (Cervidil) far more often for cervical ripening. Cytotec is far less expensive and results are similar. Both drugs are FDA approved for pregnancy termination, however. In the case of Cytotec, the dose needed for termination is given orally at about 10-15x the dose that is placed on the cervix to induce ripening. It is also only used early (<50 days) in pregnancy for termination. Dinoprostone is applied vaginally for both purposes and the abortive dose is about 3-4x that of the ripening dose. It is typically used later in pregnancy (12-20 weeks). Both have the same mechanism of action and are in the same therapeutic category of prostaglandins. Both are, obviously, pregnancy category X.

I had to labor and deliver my daughter (my first pregnancy) at 20 weeks. She passed away due to complications related to Turner's Syndrome. Anyway, they used cervadil to induce my labor and had me expecting A LOT of side effects and a LOOOONG labor since my body was obviously nowhere near ready to give birth at 20 weeks. I had NO negative side effects- not even nausea (which i get over just about anything even when I am not pregnant). I went into the hospital at like 9pm on a Monday and delivered her at noon the following day. Of course I didn't have to push long since she wasn't very big so that cut some of the time down. Anyway- I handled the drug very well and it worked for me. When I was induced with my ds 3 1/2 years ago I just had pitocin and I handled the induction very well again, but did not need cervadil.

Good luck with whatever you decide. Just be sure you totally understand everything they are going to do and are comfortable with it before agreeing to anything. this is YOUR body and YOUR baby and the right is YOURS in the decision making for this.

Yes, you will probably get the pitocin regardless. It's pretty common for them to give it these days even in non-induced births. With my cytotec-pitocin induction I did it with no pain meds. Don't let all the drama scare you, it hurts but it's not as bad as everyone says.